Hikaru Sulu
Caption: Hikaru Sulu in 2266 Gender: Male Species: Human Born: 2237 Children: Demora Sulu Actor: George Takei Hikaru Sulu (played by George Takei) was the physicist and later helmsman aboard the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701)|USS Enterprise]], helmsman aboard the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A)|USS Enterprise-A]], and later captain of the [[USS Excelsior|USS Excelsior]]. Adolescence Hikaru Sulu was born in the city of San Francisco, Earth, in 2237. By adulthood, he was a recognized expert on the subject of small arms. (TOS: "Shore Leave") He also enjoyed swordplay, which pleasantly reminded him of some of his favourite characters of Earth history, namely the French Musketeers and the Japanese Samurai. (TOS: "The Naked Time") Early Career in 2265.]] In 2265, Lieutenant Sulu was assigned to the starship Enterprise, serving as a physicist, and head of the astro-sciences department. (TOS: "Where No Man Has Gone Before") By 2266, Sulu had transferred to the helmsman station, and the firing of the ships weapons as shift tactical officer. (TOS: "The Corbomite Maneuver") Sulu was an avid botanist and spent much of his off hours tending to his rare and delicate plants which he had collected from all over Federation space in the Enterprise's Botanic Garden. (TOS: "The Man Trap") In 2266, Sulu, just as most of the other Enterprise crewmembers, came under the effects of the Psi 2000 intoxication. He fancied himself as reincarnation of D'Artagnan, emperilling other crewmembers with a fancing foil. (TOS: "The Naked Time") That same year, Sulu would for the first time in his life travel back in time to visit Earth's past. The Enterprise was accidently sent into the past by a near collision with a blackhole. The ship was detected by the United States Air Force. Captain Kirk and Sulu beamed down to retrieve the photographic evidence of the Enterprise. (TOS: "Tomorrow is Yesterday") In 2267, Sulu and the rest of the Enterprise crew were overcome by the effects of the spores on Omicron Ceti III. Sulu desired to leave Starfleet to live on the planet, but was eventually convinced otherwise. (TOS: "This Side of Paradise") When the young Ensign Pavel Chekov was assigned to the Enterprise in 2267, he took over the position of Tactical Officer from Sulu. The two would become life-long friends. (TOS: "Catspaw") .]] That same year, the Enterprise discovered the parallel Mirror universe. There, Sulu served as Head of Security aboard the Imperial Starship Enterprise in the evil Terran Empire. (TOS: "Mirror, Mirror") Animated Adventures .]] In 2269, the crew of the Enterprise learned that they had magical powers, while near the galactic centre. There, Sulu conjured upon a beautiful woman out of thin air. (TAS: "The Magicks of Megas-tu") Later that year, the crew of the Enterprise had been reduced in size by spiroid epsilon waves emanating fron a planet that was the location of the Terratin colony. While in miniaturized state, Sulu broke his leg from a fall of the bridge. Dr. McCoy, assisted by Nurse Chapel, helped to heal his leg. (TAS: "The Terratin Incident") In 2270, Sulu, McCoy and Uhura were trapped in the holographic recreation room, when the ship's computer began exhibiting aberrant behaviour following the Enterprise's passage through an energy cloud. (TAS: "The Practical Joker") Later that year, the Enterprise entered an anti-matter universe. The crew experienced accelerated reverse aging, and Sulu was reduced to infancy. Following the vessel's return to normal space, Sulu and the other crewmembers were returned to their normal ages, by use of the transporter. (TAS: "The Counter-Clock Incident") Later Career Upon the Enterprise's return to Earth in 2270, the vessel entered drydock to undergo an extended refit. Sulu was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant Commander. A year later, in 2271, Enterprise captain Willard Decker was relieved from command by now-Admiral Kirk. Following the V'Ger incident, and the loss of Captain Decker, the Enterprise embarked on its second five-year mission of exploration. (Star Trek: The Motion Picture) in 2271.]] In 2285, Sulu taught at Starfleet Academy, and "served" aboard the Enterprise, now a training vessel, under the command of Captain Spock. During an encounter with Khan Noonien Singh that same year, Sulu served as Conn Officer aboard. Following the incident, the Enterprise was officialy retired. (Star Trek II: The Wrath of Khan) However, Captain Kirk and his senior bridge staff stole the Enterprise from Earth Spacedock, to save their friend Spock, who had given his life to save the Enterprise following the encounter with Khan. His katra, implanted in Dr. McCoy was succesfully merged with his body on Vulcan. Their mission was succesful, but the Enterprise was sacrificed orbitting the Genesis Planet. (Star Trek III: The Search for Spock) The Enterprise crew returned to Earth in 2286 in a Klingon Bird-of-Prey. Upon their arrival, they found Earth under the attack of an unknown alien probe. The probe attempted to communicate with the long extinct humpback whale. The Enterprise crew travelled back in time, to Earth's 1986. There, they retrieved a humpback whale, and so saved Earth from destruction. In gratitude, Starfleet Command gave Captain Kirk the command over the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-A)|USS Enterprise-A]]. (Star Trek IV: The Voyage Home) One year later, in 2287, while the Enterprise was still in spacedock, she and her crew were assigned to resolve a conflict on Nimbus III; the planet of galactic peace. There they found Sybok, Spock's half-brother. He commandeered the Enterprise to the centre of the galaxy, where he believed to find "Sha Ka Ree". (Star Trek V: The Final Frontier) In 2290, Sulu was promoted to the rank of Captain, and offered to command of the USS Excelsior. Lieutenant Commander Janice Rand was assigned as the ship's Communications Officer at Sulu's request. (VOY: "Flashback") In 2293, the Excelsior encountered a subspace shock wave, resulting from the destruction of the Klingon moon Praxis. The Klingon Empire was hereby forced to negotiate peace with the Federation. Following the assassination of Klingon Chancellor Gorkon, Captain Kirk and Dr. McCoy were accused of the crime, and sentenced to life-long prison sentence at Rura Penthe. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) In violation of Starfleet orders, Sulu decided to mount a rescue of Kirk and McCoy. Ensign Tuvok confronted Sulu about the breach of orders, but to no avail. in 2293.]] To conceal the Excelsior's approach to Qo'noS, Sulu ordered the Excelsior through the Azure Nebula, and it was there that the vessel encountered a Klingon battle cruiser, commanded by Captain Kang. In the ensuing battle, Dmitri Valtane was fatally injured. To evade Kang, Sulu ordered that the volatile sirillium gas in the nebula be ignited. After escaping the Klingons, Captain Sulu reconsidered the situation, and aborted the rescue mission. He never entered the incident into his official log. (VOY: "Flashback") The Excelsior would, however, play a key role in the Khitomer Conference later that year, by assisting the USS Enterprise-A in its battle with General Chang's prototype Bird-of-Prey, and by preventing the assassination of Klingon Chancellor Azetbur. (Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country) His daughter Demora Sulu, was assigned to the [[USS Enterprise (NCC-1701-B)|USS Enterprise-B]]. She held the same position as her father, at the ships helm. Background Information Sulu's first name, Hikaru, was officially established in Star Trek VI: The Undiscovered Country, though it had been used in fan circles since it was introduced in Vonda N. McIntyre's 1981 novel The Entropy Effect. 'Hikaru' is a Japanese name, while 'Sulu' is taken from a province in the Philippines. In the Japanese version of Star Trek, his name is changed to 'Kato', at least partly because the Japanese language lacks distinction between "L" and "R". The best reason offered is that "Sulu" cannot be a Japanese name and if the last name is be the character's name, the first name would have to be changed to an ambiguous Asian name. of course, since Sulu was born in the US, it is possible that Sulu is not a Japanese name in origin.